Growing Up
by PinkElephant42
Summary: DigoryPolly oneshot. Polly visits Digory at his family's manor for Christmas.


Digory rushes around the house excitedly, collecting blankets, pillows and candy. He piles them in his favorite room of the manor, getting ready for Polly's visit. He hasn't seen her since the summer holiday, and he wants to make sure he's got all the things she likes ready when she arrives.

It's been a few years since their adventure in Narnia and almost as long since Digory and his family left London, but he and Polly are still close friends. They write quite often, and Polly visits each chance she gets (which isn't as much as Digory would like).

Digory puts together the blanket-fort in the corner of the large room. He lines it with pillows, then sets the bowl of candy in the center. He puts a carefully wrapped Christmas gift on top of her favorite pillow, the beady red one that sinks comfortably when you lay against it.

He has lots of plans for this weekend. Most include games or good food, or wondering about Narnia, as she is the only person in this world he talk to about that. (Well, there's Uncle Andrew, but he's rather insane, and getting worse as time goes by.)

"Digory!" His mother's voice floats through the manor.

"Coming, Mother!"

igory takes one last look at his creation, and smiles proudly. Then he rushes out of the room and down the long, high-ceilinged hallway. He pauses at the top of the stairs to look down through the bars of the railing.

He can see his mother at the door with Polly. They're talking excitedly, and Digory wishes he could hear them, or at least see their faces. From here, all he can see is the tops of their heads. Spying isn't polite, but it sure is fun!

He rushes down the stairs, spins once at the bottom, and stops suddenly a few feet away from Polly.

"Hullo," he says.

Polly smiles. "Hullo, Digory!"

She holds out her bag, and he takes it like the gentleman his mother keeps telling him he should be. He turns and begins walking back up the stairs, to the guest room.

"Thank you for allowing me to stay here, Mrs. Kirke," Polly says politely before following.

The guest room hasn't changed at all, and Polly collapses comfortably onto the big, soft bed in the center of it. She sighs in contentment. Digory places her bag at the foot of the bed, then sits on the edge. He falls back next to her, looking at the ceiling.

It's not very exciting, he decides. It's the same creamy-white as the walls, with a small chandelier in the middle.

"What are you looking at?" he asks.

"Nothing," Polly replies.

Digory turns over so he can look at her. Polly's eyes are closed, and a delicate smile plays on her lips. She looks very pretty. Digory wonders if she's always been so pretty, and he just didn't notice before.

"Are you tired?" Digory asks, confused.

"No, just comfortable," Polly tries to explain. "I'm happy to be here again."

"Oh. Well. There's lots of fun stuff to do here, you know. Come look! I have a surprise for you in Aslan's room."

Polly sits up. "Why do we keep calling it Aslan's room? Aren't we getting too old for that?"

Digory looks at her curiously. "Too old? What are you on about, Polly?"

"It's been years, you know, and he hasn't called us back to Narnia yet. I don't think he's going to," she says sadly.

"Well, that doesn't mean we should forget about it. It's always going to be Aslan's room. It's the room we always pretend is Narnia. It's where all the adventures happen."

"But none of them are _real_," Polly insists. "They're games, and we were children. We're not anymore."

"We're only fourteen."

Polly shakes her head. "Let's go to Aslan's room, then," she says, but she doesn't sound excited about it.

Digory smiles anyway and grabs her hand. He leads her to the room at the very end of the hall and pushes the door open. "See?"

The couch that usually crosses the middle of the room has been pushed aside, and warm flames dance in the large stone fireplace. Digory has decorated the room with a variety of houseplants.

"It's the garden," he explains. "Except then, it was summer in Narnia, and it's winter now, so…" he gestures to the fire. "I wonder if Narnia even has winters?" he asks.

Polly steps into the room and looks around. It has some sort of affect on her, and she smiles brightly. She lets the game wash away any thoughts of growing up for the moment.

"Of course they have winter," Polly says matter-of-factly. "How else would they have Christmas?"

Digory looks skeptical. "You can have Christmas without winter," he points out.

"But it's more _fun_ with snow and stuff, and everything in Narnia is fun," Polly replies.

It's a debate lacking in logic and evidence, but it makes complete sense to the two of them. Digory smiles.

Polly ducks into the tent, and motions for Digory to follow. He does, and they both settle against the pillows to really begin their Narnia game.

Polly reaches for her favorite pillow, but stops when she notices the box sitting on it.

"Oh! The treasure!" Digory exclaims. He picks up the gift and hands it to Polly. "Open it!"

Polly takes it and rips the paper off with the vigor of a young child. She opens the box and takes out a gold bracelet. A small charm in the shape of a lion dangles from it.

"Ohh, Digory, it's lovely," she says, suddenly serious.

Digory watches her. "Merry Christmas."

Polly holds out her hand, and Digory puts it on her wrist. She shakes her hand a few times, feeling the cool metal against it. The lion catches the firelight. They both smile, and Digory notices once again that Polly's smile is very pretty.

Polly lunges forward and wraps her arms around Digory's shoulders. Digory hugs her back, somewhat awkwardly. He can feel her body against his, her budding breasts pressing against his chest, her breath on his neck. He realizes suddenly that she's right. They aren't children anymore.

When did that happen, exactly?

Polly pulls back, but not very far. Her face is still too close to Digory's.

"Thank you, it's beautiful," she says.

"So are you," Digory responds, and he blushes because he was _not_ expecting to say something like that.

Polly blushes too, but she tilts her head up invitingly. Digory closes the distance between them. He presses his lips against hers for a kiss that is too fast and makes Polly giggle. Polly raises a hand to her mouth and touches her lips. It makes Digory want to kiss them again. So he does. He squeezes his eyes shut, and lets his lips linger on hers. His heart skips a beat when she responds eagerly. She pulls him close and deepens the kiss.

When Polly finally pulls away, breathless, she asks, "Do you think they do this sort of thing in Narnia?"

Digory has never thought about that before. "I suppose so," he responds.

Polly nods, and giggles again. Digory blushes, not sure what's so funny.

"Why do you keep doing that, Polly?" he asks.

"Doing what?"

"Giggling like that?"

"I don't know!" she exclaims, and does it again. "I'm excited, I guess. I've never had a boyfriend."

Digory's eyes widen. "Are you my girlfriend now?"

"If you'd like me to be."

Digory considers it. He glances around the room. Does that mean they're too old for Narnia games? He supposes he can deal with that. Polly, after all, is a part of _this_ world, and Narnia is not.

"I'd like that."


End file.
